


Following Tradition

by tinypinkmouse



Category: Crusade
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinypinkmouse/pseuds/tinypinkmouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes negotiations with aliens takes you into unexpected places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Following Tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [misura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/gifts).



Gideon groaned and opened his eyes, and blinked a few times trying to dispel the fogginess before realising that he was surrounded by darkness – either that or he'd gone blind, and he would really prefer the former. He scrambled into a sitting position, his head protesting loudly at the abrupt movement, but not quite loudly enough that he failed to notice the weight pulling at one of his ankles and the rattle of what sounded suspiciously like a chain against stone floor.

"Well that's certainly traditional," he muttered under his breath, memories of how he'd ended up where he was slowly starting to trickle back. He cringed at the sound of his own voice in the darkness; it had sounded much louder than he'd intended. He refrained from cursing out loud when even that small movement had caused a stab of pain at the back of his head, and instead closed his eyes for a moment and did his best to keep his head still.

Gingerly he lifted a hand to his head, prodding as carefully as he could to asses the amount of damage. He didn't bother to try to stop the hiss of pain when his fingers brushed over the sizable bump, but kept tracing over it until he was sure there wasn't any blood to be found. At least that was something, he thought.

Trying to gather his thoughts felt like grasping at fog; the ache in his head pounded in time with the beat of his heart. Moving carefully, trying to keep his head steady while he did so, he bent over his legs, hands tracing over the cold metal encircling his ankle, and following down the short chain to a ring in the floor. He pulled at it, not really expecting anything to happen, and sadly he wasn't offered any surprises. It would seem he wasn't going anywhere for the moment.

"Tradition," he mumbled disgustedly, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth, at least this time his voice didn't carry beyond his immediate vicinity. He thought about trying to stand up, but there were no walls close by that he could tell and nothing to grab hold onto for support, and he really didn't need to faint and hurt his head even worse. They'd never let him live that down.

That's when the door he hadn't even known was there opened. He looked up, eyes watering at what felt very much like the sun cutting into his eyes, but probably wasn't really that bright at all. He blinked several times, trying to make his eyes focus and even through the pain and the haze of unshed tears there was no mistaking the figure standing in the doorway. Unbidden, relief flooded him, making his limbs feel even heavier than before.

He really should have listened to Max and damn diplomacy, he thought.

"Matthew," Galen said, his voice carrying that familiar note of not-quite-amusement that always kept him one step apart from everyone else, "I'm surprised to see you here."

Gideon's head was pounding far too loudly for him to think of an answer to that. He swallowed, his throat feeling painfully dry. "Can you get me out of here?" he asked instead, his heavy tongue stumbling over some of the words.

"Matthew?" Galen's voice sounded strange, he thought.

Suddenly Galen was bending down over him, his leathers creaking loudly in protest. Gideon hadn't even seen him move – but that was Galen alright; always where you didn't expect him.

"What do you do if you need to pick something up from the floor?"

There was a small huff that might have been a laugh. "Really, Matthew. Why would I ever need to do that?" Galen asked as he helped Gideon to his feet, and they were probably both grateful that no one was there to witness the less than graceful maneuvering.

"No, you probably just make everything float up to you."

There was a clank of metal and he looked down to see his ankle free. He hadn't even noticed Galen doing anything.

Gideon tried taking a step away from Galen, but had to grab hold of his arm to steady himself. The leather felt warm under his fingers, and he wondered if that had something to do with being a Technomage.

Galen moved closer to him, sliding an arm around his waist. "I don't believe it's wise for you to walk out of here unassisted." There was that strange tone to Galen's voice again, it almost sounded like concern.

He smelled of ozone and metal and something warm and earthy that Gideon failed to put a name on. "I'm fine," Gideon said, or at least he thought he did. 

"Well, I could try your suggestion," Galen said. Gideon frowned again, he wasn't sure what Galen was talking about. "But I'm sure you'd rather walk."

He could feel his grip on Galen's other arm tightening; Gideon didn't remember ever being this close to Galen. His head was still pounding painfully, making it hard to think about anything for any length of time. He took a breath and let go of the arm he was still holding on to, and leaned against Galen for support as they started walking away slowly.

* * *

Gideon pried his eyes open gingerly, only to be confronted with the bright lights of Medlab and only faintly lingering traces of a headache. The Medlab bed felt almost comfortable in contrast with the last place he'd woken up. He'd still have preferred his own quarters, but he'd been too tired to argue with the doctor, once he'd finally made it all the way to the _Excalibur_.

"Oh, good. You're awake," Galen's voice said and Gideon turned his head to look in the direction it had come from. There was no way to tell if Galen had just arrived, or if he'd been standing there next to him all along.

Gideon sat up carefully, almost expecting his head to flare up with pain at any moment. Thankfully it never did. "So all it took to make you finally show up was to put my life in danger?"

"You were hardly in any danger, Matthew."

"I got hit over the head and thrown in a _dungeon_ , or am I misremembering something?" He looked around at the Medlab, empty except for the two of them. "Where's Dr. Chambers anyway?" he asked, surprised that she wouldn't be there after she'd insisted that he stay.

"Resting, I believe. She did say there was no permanent damage," Galen said carefully, like he might have forgotten that part.

Gideon tried standing up, but faltered slightly, and before he could grab onto the bed for balance Galen's hand had taken a hold of his arm, steadying him. "Though I do believe she would be less than happy if you left without notifying her," Galen said calmly. The smell of ozone was fainter this time, though still there mixed with that earthy smell that reminded Gideon of home in a way he didn't want to put too much thought into.

Galen stepped away, an almost fragile look flickering over his features for a moment, reminding Gideon of the last time he'd been on _Excalibur_. "And as I was saying, it was merely a cultural misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding? We jumped through all the hoops they wanted us to, just to talk to them. Now I'll have to listen to Eilerson complain about not getting access to the archeological site and that's going to make my headache come back."

"That is one worry I can alleviate; Maximilian is already at the site in question. The locals were very impressed with how enthusiastically you played your part, and were quite happy to grant my request."

"My part?" Gideon frowned, resisting the urge to touch the back of his head.

"The traditional kidnapping before the negotiations, they were expecting you to go with them quietly, it's been decades since anyone played the part with that much feeling," Galen said, and where anyone else might have been laughing out loud, there was just a small amused smile playing on Galen's lips.

Gideon groaned, he might have preferred to listen to Eilerson complain about not getting to poke around in some ruins after all.

"Why did you come then?" Gideon asked. "Don't tell my you just happened to be passing by."

"Perhaps I have been away too long." It wasn't an answer exactly, and then again that might be as close as Galen would come to admitting that he didn't have a reason.

"You're all… healed then?" he asked, nodding at Galen's shoulder, though that wasn't exactly what he meant. He still remembered the lost look on Galen's face before Dureena had returned with the staff. He hadn't forgotten what the Box had told him either, and he had to look away at that thought, because that was one thought he didn't want Galen to read on his face.

"It has been nearly two months." That wasn't an answer either, but by the time he looked back to where Galen had been standing, he was already gone.


End file.
